Life In the In-Between
Isaiah 61:2 says:
"...to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God."
When Jesus read these words in the synagogue, as recorded in Luke 4, he stopped reading after “...to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” At that time, He did not need to continue. For us, we continue, but that seemingly small space in between those two lines? That is where we live.
We live in the in-between of a proclamation and a promised return.
Look at all that has happened and is happening in that in-between. A Messiah comes as a baby, growing up as children do before us today. Years later, standing as a man in a synagogue, Jesus says He is the fulfillment of that proclamation.
A Savior, Messiah, the Lord. The one they had been waiting and hoping and searching for.
He lives and dies and resurrects, only to leave again.
And now, we continue living in the in-between. The already, but not yet.
Waiting and hoping and watching as days grow darker, yet brighter with each day.
And for us here today in these in-between days?
Life born. Life taken by death. Marriages. Divorce. Wars. Famines. Empires fallen. Markets crashed. Buildings built, buildings destroyed. Yet, amid pandemics and politics, is not there also being found joy, laughter, and happiness?
Yes, the days do grow darker, but brighter. An example of life being both/and, in the already and the not yet.
For the day of His return has yet to come. A day when our hope and faith will become sight. For we know if He proclaimed a coming and fulfilled it, He will do the same for His return.
The Lord is faithful; we know this in-between living is not forever.
Jesus Is Near
And what awaits us at Christ's return?
Comfort, beauty, praise, splendor, and redemption. Things destroyed will be rebuilt, our bodies will be renewed, shame erased, and everlasting joy and eternal communion will be ours.
Look again at Isaiah 61:2 and the promise of two proclamations: one for the day of the Lord's favor and one for His day of vengeance.
While the word vengeance can conjure up many pictures in our head, for believers in Christ, there is no fear found here. Only anticipatory hope, because we eagerly await this moment of His return when our faith will be sight.
And yet, God is the God of justice. And for those who reject Him, eternal separation awaits, void of any joy, praise, or splendor. Only to be found instead, destruction, eternal darkness, and no hope.
He came, remember first as a baby, a light in the darkness?
Christ came as the fulfillment of a prophecy proclaimed. He came near to us.
The Messiah. Emmanuel. God is with us.
He is near. So near. And yet, we turn away, so not our eyes He sees, but our backs.
He did not reject us, but in our sin, we rejected Him.
Today will be another day of living in the in-between.
For those of us in Christ, we have returned to Him and walk in faith, our eyes heavenward and full of hope. For those with backs still turned, may you turn around and draw near to the waiting Christ, and may today be the day of salvation.
May it be so…
Photo by Dennis Ottink on Unsplash